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Orlando Pride Head Coach Marc Skinner Meets the Media

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7 years ago

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New Orlando Pride head coach Marc Skinner met with the media for a roundtable discussion today and discussed a number of topics, including his philosophies, his transition from Birmingham City to the NWSL, how he worked behind the scenes during the NWSL College Draft, and much more.

Here is what the new gaffer had to say:

On when he finally arrived in Orlando:

I got in yesterday, so I arrived at the hotel. I actually got to sleep. I woke up with the worst headache today because I probably had more sleep than I’m used to. But now it’s down to business. I’m here for five days, doing a little bit of scouting around the area so I know things for when I come over (permanently). As soon as visas are sorted and so on I’ll be back over to do it fully.

On how his hiring to lead the Pride came to pass:

We’d had contact prior to Christmas. I think it solidified towards near the start of January. And at that point I was obviously still with my club team in England and once the decision was made it was pretty swift. As soon as the decisions and the contracts were signed — which was going back and forth probably about seven to 10 days. I made my decision, handed in my resignation, and here I am. I just couldn’t turn down this opportunity. It’s such a great opportunity with such an up-and-coming team that could do great, great things.

On whether he’s had time to reach out to his players yet:

We’ve had initial contact. So, I always send the players an email with a questionnaire. The questions on there are just about them, very, very simple. Because I need to know what they’re like as people first and foremost before (learning how) they are as players. They’ve got until the 31st of January to reply to me. I’ve had quite a few back already. And that allows me to read things about them before I meet them as footballers. I can’t judge what they’ve done on the field — I can see what they’ve done but I can’t judge it because what Tom would have asked them to do is different to what I will ask them to do. So, we’ve had that initial contact. And then before we start, have a one-to-one meeting with every single player. And that then, it’s not that initial meeting where we don’t know each other. I’ll have a little bit of background on them. They’ll have a bit of background on me. So it allows us to flow into conversation very quickly.

On his overview of the club:

One of the words that’s mentioned quite frequently — because I’ve just been around the offices upstairs — is that family orientation. So the family basis, the connection to the fans, how important they are to what we do. Because, and I’ll stress this: without them, we are nothing. We don’t exist. To play in that beautiful stadium empty every week would not be worth it. So I think that family orientation. Everybody’s important. Everybody’s a key part to what happens. It doesn’t matter what your role is. I think that’s really important because we have some of the world’s best talent, but everybody plays their part and I’ve got to make sure I connect to all of that. That’s my job, because everybody’s important. So, it was that that really drew me. Just being around the people upstairs and the back team staff, I’m even more excited than I was when I kind of just knew it was just the job. Because you work for these people too and everybody’s equally important.

On whether he can guide the Pride into the playoffs:

That’s my job, isn’t it? You’ll get to know me. I’m very, very accountable for my job. I’m not saying when I’m coming in it’s going to be easy to get the team to playoffs consistently and so on — I’m not saying that at all. It’s very tough. There are some exceptional teams in this league with exceptional managers and exceptional players. My job is to work every day to do that. When I first went into Birmingham, they were an underdog team, so they were successful but they needed the underdog status. They needed to have somebody say, ‘you’re not good enough, it’s us versus them.’ Where I took that off them. I said, ‘look, you want pressure situations so you have to be able to deal with them psychologically. So I’m going to make sure that this group are prepared to deal with the ideas of success.’ All these players are successful in their own rights and last but one season, they were in the playoffs. So it’s my job not just to be a flash in the pan, and I don’t just want to come here and go ‘right, let’s have a smash, there we go,’ and then it finishes a season later. It’s about consistency. I’ve got to build a foundation and that’s what I’m going to aim to do.

On whether he’s reached out to Tom Sermanni to discuss the team:

I’ll speak to Tom once I’m settled in. He’s been great, I know. You all know how personable Tom is and what a good guy he is. I’m hopeful that once I’ve settled in and spoken to all the players, I’ve got my own ideas, I can then rub ideas with him as well.

On working with Pride GM Erik Ustruck:

Almost like we’ve known each other for the most time. Erik’s so personable — and again I’d like to thank him for the opportunity to be here, because I think we can do wonderful things. With his guidance and his help and support, and obviously the club’s support, I think we can create something special. That’s the aim, anyway.

On his familiarity with the league and the Orlando Pride:

I think there’s a mixed response on that because you can watch games but there’s also the feeling side of the game. What’s it like on the raw emotion from the side. In England I quite liked to sit high on the side to see the game tactically. Whether you can or can’t do that with the connection with the fans is something I’ve got to experience when I’m here. Having watched it, it’s the best, most intense, physical league in the world, in my opinion, for women’s football. For me, I’ve got to look at ways in which we can control that physical battle to ensure we have a way of playing around that. I’ve watched near enough all of the games that Orlando played but I’ve got to do so much more work than that. I’ve got to be watching all the other teams as well.

On reaching out to Utah Royals coach Laura Harvey:

She’s been brilliant. So Laura and my partner Laura are from the same village. So she was back prior to Christmas and we were having a conversation just about the league and so on, and she’s reached out and she’s helped me. She’ll help me with just the little things that you don’t really know about…which obviously the guys here will help me with anyway. And she’s talked about the league. I know she’s tried to adapt a slightly different style than what’s already been tried in the U.S. It’s just those little insights I think are really, really valuable and I’m going to listen to as many of those as I can because they’re maybe the little golden nuggets that I need to be aware of.

On his coaching philosophy and style, and whether or not he has a preferred shape for the team:

I’m going to make bold statements here but I think people rely on shapes too much and I think they think that’s the be-all and end-all. For me, it’s about having a series of principles and foundations that players can play from, so that when they’re in a situation they can make an effective decision. If you ask a coach what’s one of the most sellable factors of a player, it’s that they make the correct decisions. So, for me, I have to work on the decision-making process and that’s habitual work in training. So that takes a little bit longer, but with that, I want them to do that so they have the ability to adapt to shape within the game. So if I said to them, ‘play three at the back now for the next 15 minutes’ — and I’m a big, big fan of people like Maurizio Sarri and Pep Guardiola and they adapt within the game to the needs of the game. I think if you look at it through a different lens, you learn to control the spaces on the field rather than the players on the field and that’s how I look at it. If we were to sort of talk about what would success look like for me, can my players, with the simplest of instructions, adapt the shape to be effective on the field. So that’s the shape that I’d go with, whether we need two at the back, one at the back, three at the back, if we’re chasing, if we’re controlling counter-attacks. If we can do that, then I will have been effective at my job.

On the fact that a good chunk of the team will be missing for the World Cup and whether he’s already started preparing for that:

There are some things that we’re looking at and discussing, and that’s why coaching is so, so important. So, I’m not just here to coach a shape and put it on the field. I’m here to effect people and effect players and make them better, regardless of their stature within the game. We have a shortfall of players if all are selected, hopefully, for the World Cup. My job is to make sure that the (players) that are holding the fort while they’re out are already playing and improving, and if I can do that, we’ll be fine in that short period that we won’t have them for. But in the meantime, we are looking at different strategies.

On naming his assistant coaches on the staff:

For reasons that are out of our control at the minute, we can’t name who they are but they are already identified, contracts have already been signed, so they’ll be in and working. So you’ll know in due course who that is. Just for other reasons I can’t tell you who that is at the moment. But yeah, that’s all in place and we’re ready to go.

On whether missing his international players will be his biggest coaching challenge in 2019:

That will definitely be one of them. There’s going to be so, so many challenges — adapting to the style of play, adapting to the league and the way that we want to play, personalities, conversations. There’s so many challenges but I think if you take them all at once, it would be silly. So we have to break them down individually. But we’ll have plenty of players ready if there is a shortfall within that window. But again, a lot of things can happen between now and that period. Having a partner that’s played in the World Cup, I know how important it is for people to do that. I’ve just got to make sure we’re going to have to look after the club and I’ll do that as I see fit based on the information I receive over the next couple of months.

On his main attribute in landing the Orlando Pride job:

Do you know what I think it was? We literally had to do everything. We’re a club with a budget that was quite low compared to some of the competitors we had and we had to build a competitive team. I’ve done everything with the club so I think I’ve worked from the ground up, and there are some amazing people at Birmingham. And it feels like there are some amazing people here, so that’s going to be a good transition for me. So, I think that my grounding and my background at what we had to achieve and what we did achieve — although we didn’t win anything (trophy-wise), which is something I would have liked to have seen out of the project, but when this opportunity came, I just couldn’t turn it down. I think that we can create something special and that’s what I’ve got to try and do.

On the Pride hiring a general manager in Ustruck and what it means:

I think it shows the progressive nature of soccer in America as well, but Orlando especially. Just seeing the intentions upstairs to make this a special place and make it a hub of football goes a long, long way. And I think my experience prior to understanding a general manager role — because I think in England, it’s slightly different of an experience. I would usually negotiate contracts with players, lengths and that, so I’ve done all of that work. Erik will take that part off me so I can concentrate solely on getting a good team on the field. So it’s a testament to Orlando just the resource they’re putting into making a successful team.

On his role with the Pride on draft day:

I was sitting on the sidelines but the players that were selected were my players. I selected them. If you noticed they’re on the phone…I’m on the phone. I’m the one on the other end. I’m watching it live on YouTube through our TV. So I was part of everything. I made the decisions. And then the two girls we selected, Erin (Greening) and Marisa (Viggiano), I see them for the qualities they have that people potentially overlook because of the nature of the league — because they’re that ingrained in what the league does but I’ve got a fresh set of eyes on the league and that’s where I selected those players. And I’m sure with work we can really make them ready for this league.

On whether his identifying talent where others might not see it is something he’s done through his career:

We had to. Before my time as first team manager at Birmingham…what I ended up doing was identifying players, and there’s no bigger satisfaction than bringing players through and growing with you and the club because that’s the identity that the club wants. And I suppose it’s the same for like the draft system even though you get them a little bit older, because you took the chance on them. They become part of your club and they’re ingrained in the fabric of your club, and there’s so much benefit to that. I look at them differently because of the way I want to play, potentially, but I still see the value in everything that the players already here have and now it’s just about adaptation. The biggest skill set that I’ll use is adaptation. For me, the players will have to adapt to be the best players going forward. 

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Orlando Pride vs. Angel City FC: Final Score 2-0 As Pride Are Dominated In California

The Pride returned to action from the summer break, falling 2-0 to Angel City.

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2 days ago

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July 4, 2026

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Image courtesy of Orlando Pride

The Orlando Pride (5-6-2, 17 points) returned from their month-long World Cup break, falling 2-0 to Angel City FC (5-6-1, 16 points) at BMO Field in Los Angeles, CA. A first-half goal by Maiara Niehues and a second-half strike by Sveindis Jonsdottir was the difference, although the game was thoroughly dominated by the hosts.

Pride Head Coach Seb Hines deployed his typical 4-2-3-1 formation in the team’s return to action. However, they were without Barbra Banda, who was out with a thigh injury. The back line in front of goalkeeper Anna Moorhouse was made up of Kerry Abello, Rafaelle, Cori Dyke, and Hailie Mace. Angelina and Ally Lemos were the defensive midfielders behind Jacquie Ovalle, Haley McCutcheon, and Luana with Julie Doyle up top.

This was one of the worst performances by the Pride this year. With Banda missing, the team was unable to get anything going offensively, alhough that might not have mattered as Orlando couldn’t get the ball out of its own end. The 2-0 scoreline is a generous one for the Pride, who could’ve easily lost by more.

Ally Sentnor, who joined Angel City during the break, tried to make something happen early during her debut. Inside the first minute, the U.S. international made a run to the top of the box before dribbling inside. The attacker struggled to find space before finally shooting, but Dyke was there to block the attempt.

The Pride had their first chance in the seventh minute when Rafaelle played a ball forward to Luana over the midfield stripe. The Brazilian took the space the defense gave her, dribbling near the top of the box before unleashing a shot. It initially appeared to be on target, but began curving, hitting the outside of the post and going out of play. That was about as close to scoring as Orlando came all night.

The hosts threatened to take the lead in the 14th minute when Jun Endo sent a dangerous ball into the six-yard box. Sentnor got on the end of it, but Dyke, Mace, and Moorhouse were all in front of the goal to keep it out.

Evelyn Shores received a pass on the left in the 17th minute before playing it to Endo, who was making an overlapping run. The Japanese international took a hard shot from a tight angle, but Moorhouse had her near post covered, catching the attempt.

In the 25th minute, Luana slid to keep possession from an Abello clearance, trying to play it back to McCutcheon. Unfortunately, it went straight to Jonsdottir instead. Jonsdottir immediately played the ball to Sentnor, who dribbled into the Pride box before sending a low shot wide of the far post.

Shores fought through a pair of defenders in the 31st minute to get the ball to Niehues. The Brazilian attempted a low cross that McCutcheon cleared but only to Shores at the top corner of the box. The left back took a touch around Mace to create space for a shot, sending her attempt over the target.

The Pride struggled to clear in the 35th minute when Sentnor played a ball to Endo, who was making an underlapping run. Angelina chested down Endo’s cross in an attempt to clear, but it didn’t go far. Gisele Thompson was able to tap it to Jonsdottir, whose shot went wide.

A minute later, the Pride were unable to clear again, resulting in the game’s opening goal. Dyke got in front of Thompson’s ball into the box, but she knocked it to Ary Borges, who took a shot that Dyke blocked again, but she failed to get it out of the box. The rebound fell straight to Niehues, who curled a shot out of Moorhouse’s reach and into the corner to give Angel City the 1-0 lead.

“You’ve got to defend the cross, so stop the cross. And then you’ve got to defend the cross, and we don’t quite clear our lines,” Hines said. “We talk about clearing it out of dangerous areas. It lands at Ary Borges. She has a shot, it deflects, and then we don’t close the next shot from Niehues. We speak about that a lot. The closer you are, the less chance they are of scoring, and we stood off them. They took that opportunity really well, but we feel that with our standard and our level, we should be doing better.”

The Pride continued to play on the back foot, defending desperately as Angel City created chances. In the 38th minute, Borges picked out Niehues near the top of the Pride box. The attacker shot as McCutcheon closed her down, sending her attempt wide of the near post.

Angel City continued on the attack, keeping the ball in the Pride half as they struggled to clear. In the 42nd minute, Jonsdottir tried to chip Moorhouse from outside the Pride box, but the Pride goalkeeper made the easy catch.

Angelina took the ball away from Borges in the first minute of first-half stoppage time 30 yards from goal. The midfielder lifted an overly ambitious attempt toward Angel City goalkeeper Angelina Anderson for her team’s second shot of the game. However, it didn’t cause any trouble.

It was a dominant 45 minutes for Angel City. While the Pride had more possession (54%-46%), most of it was in their own half. The hosts had more shots (10-2), shots on target (3-0), crosses (10-3), and corner kicks (2-0). Both teams completed 77% of their passes in the first half.

Hines made a pair of changes during the break as his team looked to get back into the game. Marta and Nicole Payne entered the contest for Luana and Mace. Despite the changes, it was Angel City that continued to be the more threatening team.

A poor Orlando clearance in the 47th minute allowed Shores to keep the ball in the Pride third. She found Carina Lageyre near the top of the box, but the shot was right at Moorhouse.

The Pride won a throw-in in the 55th minute that quickly turned into a disaster. McCutcheon played the ball back for Rafaelle, who was immediately put under pressure from Jonsdottir. The Icelandic international blocked the defender’s pass and sprinted to the end line before beating Moorhouse from a tight angle to give the hosts a 2-0 lead.

“It starts with a throw-in. So the ability to keep possession from a throw-in is really important,” Hines said. “You know, we have a couple of objectives from that, and it’s just details, right? Weighted pass, make your choice to the correct forward. If you’re going to go long, you’ll sort of take away the deflection from the forward. So yeah, another moment where we felt we’re in control, and we give them an opportunity to counter and go straight to goal from that.”

Hines made two more changes in the 62nd minute, replacing Abello and Ovalle with Zara Chavoshi and Solai Washington.

As the game entered the final 20 minutes, the Pride started to gain more possession and create more chances in the final third. However, they still were unable to create any clear-cut opportunities or cause Anderson any trouble.

In the 77th minute, a pass to Lemos hit the referee, causing a stoppage in play. Hines took the opportunity to make his final change, replacing Rafaelle with Hannah Anderson.

Neither team had taken a shot since the 55th-minute goal, when Angel City created a chance in the 78th minute. A long goal kick by Anderson bounced over Chavoshi’s head, allowing Endo to get into the Pride third. She shot from outside the box, forcing Moorhouse to dive to her right and make the stop.

The Pride finally got their first shot on target in the 80th minute when Washington flicked a long ball forward and fought through a pair of defenders. She dribbled into the box from the left and fired for the near post, where Anderson was waiting to block the ball out of play.

Anderson came out to punch away the ensuing corner kick, running over Chavoshi. The ball went toward her own goal, forcing Sarah Gorden to head it off the line. McCutcheon tapped the ball back to Angelina at the top of the box and the midfielder sent it back in. It fell for Anderson behind the back line at the top of the six-yard box, but Shores was able to stick a foot in and clear it over the end line. Angel City cleared the second corner kick and ended the threat.

As the game entered two minutes of stoppage time, Chavoshi sent a low cross to the top of the six, where Washington was making a run. The second-half substitute tried to backheel the ball on goal, not getting much on it and allowing Anderson to make the easy stop. That was the final chance for either team as Angel City saw out the victory.

The Pride ended the game with more possession (57%-43%) and better passing accuracy (79%-75%), but Angel City led in every other statistical category. The hosts had more shots (15-4), shots on target (6-1), crosses (18-11), and corner kicks (5-3).

“Never good enough to lose a game 2-0,” Hines said. “Two things in this league that you have to deal with, one is direct play. You have to deal with teams who are going to be really aggressive and try to get back to front really quickly. And you have to be prepared for transition. We can’t allow gifts in this league, and we gave Angel City two gifts. And they capitalized on those moments. We had some good possession, but didn’t create anything up until probably the last 10 minutes of the game.”

“Definitely frustrated, disappointed,” Dyke added. “We know that was nowhere near our best night, but we’ve just got to learn from it and then turn the page, because we know we have (another) big game coming up as well.”

The loss keeps the Pride in eighth, one point ahead of Angel City. To make matters worse, they’ve played a game or two more than all the teams around them, so they could fall down the standings in the near future.

The Pride will have to put this game behind them quickly as they return home to face the Kansas City Current on July 10.

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Orlando Pride vs. Angel City FC: Preview, How to Watch, TV Info, Live Stream, Lineups, Match Thread, and More

The Pride return to action tonight as they head back to the West Coast to face Angel City in Los Angeles.

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3 days ago

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July 3, 2026

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Image courtesy of Orlando Pride / Jeremy Reper

Welcome to your match preview as the Orlando Pride (5-5-2, 17 points) return to action, facing Angel City FC (4-6-1, 13 points) in Los Angeles. This is the second and final time these two teams will meet during the 2026 NWSL regular season.

Here’s everything you need to know about tonight’s game.

History

Angel City was one of the NWSL’s two expansion teams entering the league in 2022. As a result, the Pride have only played tonight’s opponents nine times. The Pride are 5-2-2 in those games, all in NWSL regular-season play. While the Pride are only 2-1-2 at home, they’re 3-1-0 in Los Angeles.

The most recent matchup between these two teams took place on April 3 in Orlando. Haley McCutcheon gave the Pride the lead in the 84th minute, but the game appeared headed for a devastating draw when Gisele Thompson equalized two minutes into stoppage time. However, McCutcheon came to the rescue again, scoring in the eighth minute of stoppage time to secure a 2-1 win for the hosts.

The first game last year between the two teams occurred on April 25 in Orlando. The visitors got off to a great start with first-half goals by Riley Tiernan and Katie Zelem. But the Pride took over in the second half. Marta got one back midway through the second period, and Barbra Banda equalized four minutes later. An own goal by M.A. Vignola in the third minute of stoppage time gave the Pride a 3-2 win. On Aug. 21, 2025 in Los Angeles, the hosts dominated possession and the number of chances as the game appeared to be heading to a scoreless draw. But Alyssa Thompson converted in the 86th minute as Angel City took all three points.

The first of two meetings in 2024 took place on March 22 in Orlando. Former Pride attacker Claire Emslie gave the visitors the lead from the penalty spot, and it looked as though the Pride would drop their first game of the season. But Marta volleyed home an equalizer from an Angelina corner kick late, pulling out a 1-1 draw. On June 30, 2024 in Los Angeles, Adriana gave the Pride the lead early and scored a second goal six minutes later. Banda netted a goal of her own six minutes into stoppage time, leading the Pride to a dominating 3-0 win.

The first meeting of the 2023 season took place April 2 in Orlando. Emily Sams took down Alyssa Thompson in the first half, giving the visitors a penalty. Emslie stepped up and converted to give her team a 1-0 lead. Messiah Bright responded just after halftime to make it 1-1, and the game appeared to be heading for a draw. But Katie Johnson scored the winner in the 10th minute of second-half injury time. On Oct. 2, 2023 in Los Angeles, an Adriana volley beat Angel City goalkeeper Angelina Anderson to her near post for the only goal as the Pride won a crucial late-season game.

The first-ever game between the teams took place on May 8, 2022 in Los Angeles. In the third minute, Gunny Jonsdottir’s cross was tipped by Angel City goalkeeper DiDi Haracic, but it went right to Sydney Leroux. The Pride striker fired right at Morgan Reid standing in front of goal. The ball bounced off the defender and went in to give the Pride an early lead. The hosts controlled the final hour, but the Pride held on for 87 minutes to claim their first win of the season.

The teams met again on Aug. 7 in Orlando. Former Pride defender Ali Riley opened the scoring with a wonderful strike from the left side. The Pride responded in the second half through Julie Doyle just three minutes after she entered the game to even it at 1-1. The visitors took another lead when Cari Roccaro beat Viviana Villacorta to a corner kick, putting it past Erin McLeod. The Pride equalized for a second time in the 90th minute when Doyle and Paige Nielsen raced for a Thais Reiss cross, with the defender reaching it first. But Nielsen’s attempted clearance went into her own net, allowing the Pride to claim a 2-2 draw and extend their unbeaten run to five games.

Overview

The Pride are in the middle of their most challenging season in three years. They’ve struggled defensively following the trade of Sams and an injury to Kerry Abello that’s kept her out for most of the season so far. They’ve also struggled to score outside of Banda, though that’s been the case the last couple of seasons.

The team hit its lowest point in mid-May, losing back-to-back games to expansion sides Boston Legacy FC and Denver Summit FC. But the Pride bounced back strongly, defeating San Diego Wave FC 1-0 away and Bay FC 3-1 at home, creating some momentum heading into the World Cup break.

There were a lot of questions about how Banda would return this season after suffering a season-ending injury last year. But she’s been dominant, leading the league in scoring with 11 goals and in shots on target with 27. She has a commanding four-goal lead in the race for the scoring title.

Defensively, the team has struggled at times, notably giving up seven goals in two games as the calendar turned from April to May. But Head Coach Seb Hines made a good decision to switch Hailie Mace and Cori Dyke, moving Mace back to her natural right back position and Dyke to center back. In the five games since, the Pride have conceded three times once, twice once, and recorded two clean sheets.

Tonight, the Pride return to action as they head back out to the West Coast to face Angel City FC. The Southern California-based team sits 12th in the NWSL standings on 13 points, four behind the Pride for the final playoff spot. That makes tonight’s game crucial as we near the midway point in the season.

While the Pride come into this game on a two-game winning streak, Angel City has lost its last two. Tonight’s hosts fell 2-1 to the Houston Dash away and 2-1 to the North Carolina Courage at home. However, these teams haven’t played since the end of May, so it’s difficult to say how much that form will affect them tonight.

Unlike the Pride, Angel City has spread out its goals this year. While the club doesn’t have anyone challenging for the golden boot, Gisele Thompson, Maiara Niehues, and Sveindis Jonsdottir all lead the team with three goals. Kennedy Fuller is right behind with two.

The assists are also spread out, with Evelyn Shores, Jonsdottir, and Fuller all tied on two. Five other players are just behind with one each.

Defensively, Angel City has remained consistent with its back line, which consists of Shores, Sarah Gorden, Sams, and Gisele Thompson. Meanwhile, Anderson continues to be the team’s number one choice at goalkeeper.

However, Angel City has been busy since it last played. On June 17, the club traded Fuller to Bay FC for transfer funds and allocation funds. The same day, it fired Head Coach Alex Straus, handing the reins to Assistant Coach Leif Gunnar Smerud on an interim basis.

The following day, the LA-based side agreed to a trade with the Kansas City Current for U.S. international Ally Sentnor, sending $850,000 in intraleague transfer funds the other way.

“There’s a lot of unknowns with a new coach coming in, new feelings, new vibes. They’re not content about where they are in the league, so they’ll be wanting to move up,” Hines said about tonight’s game. “I think looking at personnel can tell you a lot about how they play. They have some great athletes in their team. They’ve got a very quick back line. When the availability comes out, that can also tell you a lot about how they’re going to play. They’ve got some key personnel missing out on the last couple of games. So that’s also important to take into account. They’ve got some players coming back from injury. So, we’ll analyze it when we get the availability report. But it’s also about ourselves. We’ve been working hard these last three weeks on being back to who we are, and it’s going to be great to be tested in LA in front of their own crowd. And I know everyone’s really itching to get back onto the field. So we want to set the tone early on in the game and hopefully we can set that out to the final whistle and come home with three points.”

The Pride will take the field tonight without Banda (thigh), Kylie Nadaner (maternity leave), Oihane (lower leg), and Villacorta (knee). Angel City will be without Prisca Chilufya (knee), Savy King (foot), Leroux (excused absence), and Hina Sugita (knee).

Official Lineups

Orlando Pride (4-2-3-1)

Goalkeeper: Anna Moorhouse.

Defenders: Kerry Abello, Rafaelle, Cori Dyke, Hailie Mace.

Defensive Midfielders: Angelina, Ally Lemos.

Attacking Midfielders: Jacquie Ovalle, Haley McCutcheon, Luana.

Forward: Julie Doyle.

Bench: Cosette Morche, Hannah Anderson, Solai Washington, Zara Chavoshi, Seven Castain, Summer Yates, Simone Jackson, Nicole Payne, Marta.

Angel City FC (4-3-3)

Goalkeeper: Angelina Anderson.

Defenders: Evelyn Shores, Sarah Gorden, Emily Sams, Gisele Thompson.

Midfielders: Ally Sentnor, Carina Lageyre, Ary Borges.

Forward: Jun Endo, Sveindis Jonsdottir, Maiara Niehues.

Bench: Karsyn Cherry, Claire Emslie, Nealy Martin, Sophia Mattice, Faith Nguyen, Casey Phair, Hannah Seabert, Taylor Suarez, Riley Tiernan.

Referees

REF: Mark Verso.
AR1: Bruno Rizo.
AR2: Alexandra Arita.
4TH: Trevor Wiseman.
VAR: Joshua Encarnacion.
AVAR: Melissa Beck.

How to Watch

Match Time: 10 p.m.

Venue: BMO Stadium — Los Angeles, CA.

TV: None.

Streaming: Prime Video.

Social Media: For live updates and rapid reaction, follow @themaneland.bsky.social on Bluesky and the Orlando Pride’s official Twitter (@ORLPride) or Bluesky (@orlpride.com) feed.

Enjoy the game. Go Pride!

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Orlando Pride

Orlando Pride vs. Angel City FC: Three Keys to Victory

What do the Pride need to do to earn all three points against Angel City?

Published

4 days ago

on

July 2, 2026

By

Image courtesy of Orlando Pride/Jeremy Reper

The Orlando Pride are back in action Friday night against Angel City FC at BMO Stadium in Los Angeles. It’s been over a month since we’ve seen any NWSL regular-season matches, and I am excited for the season to resume. The Pride were on a two-match winning streak before the break and will want to regain that momentum. What must the Pride do to earn all three points against Angel City?

Shake off the Rust

The Pride last played a competitive match on May 29. That essentially makes this break another off-season. That is a good thing and a bad thing. It’s a good thing because the Pride definitely needed to work on some issues, especially on the defensive end. It’s a bad thing because the team had won two in a row. Getting back to full match speed after a month can be a challenge.

Fortunately, it’s a challenge that Angel City shares. Angel City was probably grateful for the break given the team was 1-3-1 in its last five matches and had dropped two straight before the break. Both teams will need to shake off some rust, and whichever team is able to do so more quickly and more effectively will have an advantage.

Banda-less Scoring

As we heard on SkoPurp Soccer: An Orlando Pride PawedCast, Seb Hines is being cautious when speaking about Barbra Banda’s availability for this match. That may indeed be the case, or Hines may be playing coy about the Pride striker’s availability. If it’s the former, then the Pride need to find goals without the league-leading scorer on the pitch.

There’s a good chance we’ll see Marta and Jacquie Ovalle on the pitch at the same time. While it would be better to have Banda out there for those two to feed, I’ll take defenses having to deal with them coming from either side of the box any day. It may be that they are able to play off each other to create and finish the chances the Pride need to win the match. Of course, I won’t argue with other Orlando attackers getting in on the fun.

Clean (Moor)house

The Pride have four clean sheets so far this season despite the defense not looking as solid as it has in the past. I’m hopeful that the team used the break to figure out the best back line with the available players. The Pride are still missing a true center back to pair with Rafaelle, though Cori Dyke has been adequate in recent matches. Angel City added Ally Sentnor to the roster and her first match for the club is against the Pride. It’s important for the defense to stop her, as she will want to put on a show in her debut.

Anna Moorhouse needs to switch back on. Statistically, she was one of the NWSL’s best goalkeepers during the 2024 season. That is not the case this season, as Andrew DeSalvo outlined in our subscriber newsletter. Moorhouse has a chance to get things back on the right track following the break, and it starts with a clean sheet against Angel City Friday.

That is what I will be looking for on Friday night. Let me know your thoughts in the comments below. Vamos Orlando!

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